Islington vs Macquarie Fields

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.0M in Islington and $1.0M in Macquarie Fields.

For units, Islington sits at a median of $810K against $695K in Macquarie Fields, which makes Macquarie Fields the more affordable unit market and Islington the pricier one.

On cash flow, Islington leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.74%, compared with 3.19% in Macquarie Fields, a gap of 0.55 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +6.3% in Islington (an estimate) and +9.7% in Macquarie Fields, so recent momentum favours Macquarie Fields, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Macquarie Fields and 1.1% in Islington, so landlords in Macquarie Fields face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Macquarie Fields is the bigger suburb, with a population of 14,023 against 2,026, roughly 7 times the size of Islington; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Islington for rental income, Macquarie Fields for recent price momentum, Macquarie Fields for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.